Growing Up Is Hard To Do
by findmyway
Summary: They had been best friends all their lifes, but secretly he had always wanted to mean just that little bit more to her. Shame she couldn't see that. Rori again, slight AU, Give it a go and Please R and R.
1. Friendship

**A/N: Here I am, once again... to write about Rori now and then. This is just something I thought of yesterday and decided to get on paper. Hope that it's to your liking. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, the only thing I own is me, myself and I.**

It was just another warm day in Los Angeles, when a five year-old Tori Vega angrily flopped down on a wooden bench in the middle of the playground of her new school. Even though the sun was shining brightly, the young girl couldn't possibly bring herself to be in a sunny, happy mood. She still couldn't accept the fact that she had to go to a new school. She'd been happy enough in 'York Avenue', her previous one. But then her daddy got a new job and they just had to move house, all the way to California. It wasn't fair that she had to say goodbye to all of her good friends. Back in New York, everything had been so familiar. She'd known all the kids in the neighborhood and they'd often played together in the little school. Here, she didn't know anyone. There were no other kids at all in the street she lived, just boring adults. The Vega's house back In Manhattan had been cozy and small, while their new place was way too big for Tori's liking. Just yesterday, she and her older sister Trina had even gotten lost, while trying to find the way to their bedroom.

No, Tori didn't care for the stupid house at all. And as for this school, well it would probably also be stupid: super-mega-gigantically-stupid. She'd been sitting on this bench for ten whole minutes now and she still hadn't plucked up the courage to talk to any other boys or girls. It scared her immensely, being surrounded by all these strangers. " Just be nice to everyone and it'll all be okay. You'll make some new friends in no time, I promise", her mommy had reassured her, right before she'd dropped her off. But how could she be nice to people she didn't know? She pouted sadly, she didn't want to be here. She wanted to go back to the environment she knew. She wanted to go back to her old home and her old school. She'd never make friends here, she saw it in the other childrens' facial expressions. They all seemed to be looking at her funny, no doubt cause she was the new girl. She sighed deeply, before making a decision.

She slowly stood up from the small brown bench and hesitantly made her way over to a group of girls. They were jumping rope and they seemed to be having lots of fun. She shyly tapped one of them on the shoulder, while nervously biting her lip. Said girl: a tall blonde with blue eyes, slowly turned around with an annoyed look on her face. " What?", she snapped. Tori flinched, taken aback by her attitude. " Ca…can I play?", she asked. " No." The girl said defiantly. " Why not?", Tori asked, with a hint of disappointment in her voice. " Because we don't know you, duh." The tan girl managed a smile, as she extended her hand and said: " I'm Tori Vega. Now can I play?" The other girl squinted her eyes and completely ignored Tori's friendly gesture. " I'm Stacey, but you still can't play with us." " Why not?", the tan girl asked, becoming desperate. " Cause you look all weird, plus you've been sitting over there…" Stacey pointed at the bench. …on your own the whole time. Nobody came to talk to you. Therefore you must be a freak." Tori worried her lip, as she emotionally stated: " I'm not a freak." " Are too, now get away from us, you freak.", Stacey taunted. As if that wasn't worse enough, the girl standing behind her joined in. " Yeah, leave us alone, creep. Go back to where you came from." That had been the final straw for Tori, she quickly ran away crying, leaving four laughing girls in her wake. She'd been right, she thought, as she went to sit in the sand-box. The people in this school weren't nice at all. She held her hands in front of her face, as inevitable tears came leaking down her chin. The Latina was so caught up in crying, that she didn't notice the sand suddenly moving beside her. She was only alerted, when a voice said: " Hey, why are you crying? You're making the sand go all soggy."

Tori looked up to be met with the sight of a lanky, curly-haired boy with glasses. " What's wrong?", the boy asked, concern evident in his tone. " Those girls wouldn't le…le…let me play with them." " What girls?", the boy asked, genuinely curious. " Them wi…with the jump-rope.", Tori sobbed, pointing a shaky finger in the direction of the culprits. The spectacled boy got a knowing look on his face: " Ooh them, yeah they're always mean to me too." " R…really?" " Yeah, see my puppet right here?", he asked, holding up a wooden doll. The crying girl nodded. " They always try to take it away from me. They call me names, like: weirdo or puppet geek or four-eyes. It's no fun at all. I'm always being nice to them, but it doesn't help. They really scare me sometimes." He paused, before asking: "Did they upset you very bad?" Tori nodded frantically. " They ca..call…called me a freak and a creep and told me I looked weird." " I'm sorry.", the boy said, as he pouted and hesitantly placed a tiny hand on one of Tori's even smaller ones.

They smiled briefly at each other, before Tori broke the silence. " What's your name?" " I'm Robbie, Robbie Shapiro. My mommy always calls me Robert, but I don't like that at all. This is my puppet: 'Rex'. What's your name?" Tori… Tori Vega." " Nice to meet you. You know, you don't look weird to me." " I don't?", Tori asked, her tone laced with insecurity. " No, you look smart.", Robbie said, smiling at her. The tan girl smiled back at him, through her tears. " Thank you, Robbie." " You look smart and real pretty too.", the little boy mumbled quickly, as he bashfully averted his gaze to look at the sand. " Thank you.", the girl said, blushing a little." " You're welcome.", Robbie said softly, squeezing her hand. " You're nice Robbie. I like you." " I like you too… I think. You're pretty cool… for a girl. The other girls are always saying nasty things to me. Daddy says they're just teasing and they mean no harm, but I know they don't like me." There was another brief pause in the conversation, then Tori said: " You don't deserve their teasing, you're very nice." " Well, you don't deserve their teasing either and just so you know: you can always play with me and Rex." " Thanks." Tori said cheerfully, as she beamed at the boy. She'd only just met him, but she already felt some sort of a connection to him.

Tori had never been friends with a boy before, so it was only natural that she was nervous to ask him her next question. " Wanna be friends?" " I don't know, I never really had a friend before. What's it like, being… friends?" Tori smiled, as she remembered her friends back in New York and started explaining: " It's very fun: friends do everything together. They play together and sit next to each other in school and… and tell each other secrets." " Oh.", Robbie said, as he listened, amazed by this new information. This whole friends-business sounded pretty good. " But it's not just that: friends also make each other feel better, when one of them is crying.", Tori went on. " Oh.", the boy said again. Tori suddenly looked at him, surprised. " You never had a friend before?" Robbie shook his head. " No, nobody ever cared before you came along. They all say I'm weird and freaky and nobody ever sits next to me. That's mainly because Stacey told everyone I got cooties. ", he explained, with a pouty face. The tan girl smiled sympathetically at him and tightened her hold on his hand. " I'm sorry." " That's okay." The pair sat in comfortable silence, till Robbie asked: " Hey Tori?" " Yeah?" " Did…did I make you feel better just now?" "Yes." The boy nervously licked his lips, before asking: " Sooo… are we… f…f…friends?" He brought out the last word in a stutter, since 'friends' was a whole new extention to his vocabulary. " We're friends.", Tori said, smiling brightly, as she interlaced her fingers with those of her first, official Californian friend.

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**A/N: So did you love it or do you virtually want to hunt me down for starting the suckiest Rori story ever? If you choose the latter, please don't shoot me! The voices told me to write it! LOL, crazyness. Render me back to normalcy with a review and I'll love you. hugs, kisses and love( preferably between Robbie and Tori) XOXO Rori girl. **


	2. In class

**A/N: So this is just a quick update. Hope it's alright. Today's my birthday guys, so please leave me a nice gift in the review box, wrapped in paper of kindness and with a ribbon of love. XOXO**

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The bell rang and Tori slowly loosened her grip on Robbie's hand. The girl sighed deeply, she still didn't feel completely safe in this place. Robbie seemed to pick up on this, as he sent her an encouraging smile. Tori weakly smiled back, before saying: " I'm scared, Robbie."" It's gonna be okay, I'll keep you safe. You're my only friend… here.", the boy said, extending his hand to her again. She immediately grabbed it and threw him another smile, this one slightly more confident than the last. Robbie blushed deeply despite himself. It was amazing how beautiful Tori's smile was. The other girls only ever seemed to grin evilly, after they'd just bullied him. " Your face is all red.", the tan girl stated innocently. " Yeah, it…it just does that sometimes.", the boy mumbled, not meeting her gaze. Then he said: " Come on, we gotta go to class."

Everything went well, until they reached the door of their classroom and came face to face with Stacey. She'd of course picked up on the fact that they were holding hands and couldn't refrain from making a hurtful comment. " Ooh, the weirdo and cootie-boy are holding hands, how cute. She urged her friends to come closer, as she said: " Hey guys, come see this." It didn't even take a minute, before the other girls gathered around Stacey. They all started laughing and then sang: " The freak and the weirdo sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G." Then one of the girls strode forward and took Rex away from Robbie. Robbie immediately burst into tears, while Tori shouted: " Hey, give it back!" " Who's gonna make me? You?, the taller girl teased. Then she stepped right in front of Tori and suddenly gave her a kind smile. " You want me to give it to you?" Tori nodded frantically, as she still had the idle, naïve hope that the other girl would hand over the doll. " Well Allison, give it back to her, that's what she wants.", Stacey said. For a minute, it seemed like Allison would give in to Tori's demands, as she held out the puppet in front of her. When the tan girl reached for it however, the mean girl swiftly raised her arm above the Latina's head and shouted: " Haha, fooled you! If you want it back, you're just gonna have to jump for it, midget." Meanwhile Robbie had slumped down in a corner. He was weeping silently and shaking violently.

All of a sudden the door to the classroom opened abruptly. This action startled all of the kids, as they simultaneously looked up at the woman now standing in the doorway." What's going on here?" Her eyes rested on the broken-hearted boy in the corner for a while, then shifted to Allison, who was still holding Rex up high in the air. The woman's facial expression promptly changed from concerned to stern, as she said: " Allison Davis, you give that boy his doll back, now!" The girl obediently did as she was told as she wasn't really in the mood to get in trouble. When Robbie got Rex back, his face immediately lit up and he said: " Thank you, Ms. Cooper." " You're welcome, little fella.", Ms. Cooper said, as she beamed at him. She then raised her voice, as she addressed the other children. " Okay, everybody get to class, it's teaching time!" When all the little boys and girls had followed the teacher into the small classroom, she urged Tori to come closer. The tan girl shyly made her way over to the front of the class, while everybody else took their seat. When they'd all sat down, Ms. Cooper loudly cleared her throat and clapped her hands to get the children's attention. Then, she began to speak. " Alright class, listen up! Today we have a new girl among us, her name is Tori Vega and she'd really like to introduce herself to all of you." The teacher then flipped around to face the Latina with a small wink. She saw Tori was a little shy, so she bent to her eye-level and calmly told her: " It's okay Tori, just tell the others a little bit about yourself. They won't bite."

The girl nodded, then took a deep breath and addressed her new classmates. " Hi, I'm Tori Vega and I'm from New York and I just moved here with my family. I like drawing and… and singing and playing the piano." She stopped talking and briefly glanced over to Ms. Cooper. She nodded and softly said: " Okay sweetie, thank you. You can pick out a chair now." Tori nervously bit her lip, as she looked around for a place to sit. When she spotted Robbie sitting at a desk alone, she hurriedly ran over to him. When she was halfway there however, Stacey extended her leg, which caused the young Latina to make a hard fall. " Oops.", Stacey said, then faked concern as she helped Tori back up and asked: " Are you okay, Terri?" Robbie had been a witness of the mean girl's misdemeanor and he quickly threw her an evil glare. " Her name is Tori!", he all but spat. " What was that, dweeb?", Stacey hissed, keeping her voice down just enough so that the teacher wouldn't hear it. " Oh, I'm sorry Robbie, of course her name is Tori.", she said a little louder. " That's it Stacey, that was real nice right there. Everything alright, Tori?", Ms. cooper asked, with a kind but worried smile. She was apparently completely oblivious to the fact that Stacey was the cause of Tori's misfortune. " Yes, I think I might have a bump though, but it only hurts a little bit.", the tan girl replied, surprisingly calm. " I'm glad to hear you didn't hurt yourself too bad. Just give me a sign if the pain gets worse okay?" Tori nodded, then went to sit next to her new friend. When the class was quiet again, the teacher began her lesson.

Ms. Cooper taught the children all about all kinds of different shapes, but Robbie wasn't really listening. He was staring at Tori, with an extremely concerned look on his face. " Are you really okay?" She smiled reassuringly at the sad boy, as she answered: " Yes, Robbie, I'm fine." " Where's your bump?" Tori indicated the swelling at the back of her head and it was then that Robbie did something totally unexpected. He took a delicate hold of Tori's face and then slowly placed a kiss at the top of her head. When he retracted his mouth, Tori gave him a confused look and his face turned scarlet again. " It's uh… it's just something my mommy does, when I have a boo-boo.", he said shyly. " It helps the wounds heal twice as fast, she always says." " Oh.", the girl said, as she started blushing slightly herself. " Well Thanks, Robbie." " No problem, thanks for trying to save Rex." " No problem.", Tori said at her turn, sending him yet another broad smile that made her whole face light up. Robbie's face changed to a new shade of ruby-red, as he looked back at the teacher, and gripped a tight hold of the girl's hand under the desk.


	3. Surviving a movie-night

**A/N: Here's a new chapter. I know what you're thinking: finally! But I'm working on lots of stories at the moment and they ALL need updates once in a while, so... Then there's this lovely prospect of exams creeping closer, sigh. Anyways, enjoy the new update. I just bought it at the inspiration store, at a very reasonable price.**

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**Time jump: 7 years into the future**

Robbie was just sitting on his couch in the living room, anxiously waiting for his best friend to arrive. It was Wednesday today and that only meant one thing for the both of them: movie-night. The ventriloquist was beginning to get worried though: Tori was supposed to have been at his place by seven, but there was still no sign of her and it's was nearly half past now. He checked his watch again and now it was official: half past seven and his best friend for life, was nowhere to be seen. He just couldn't quite grasp it: Tori was never one to arrive late. Hell, if anything, she always showed up too early. He sighed and started nervously tapping his fingers on the side table. Then he shifted his gaze over to the bucket on the kitchen counter.

He'd talked his mother into going to KFC, cause he knew how much Tori loved chicken wings. He'd thought it would be a nice surprise for her, to see a large bucket of her favorite fast food standing on the counter. But it wasn't as great of a surprise anymore, as the food was no longer warm. Hell, he was sure it was nowhere near eatable any longer. Not the guy to just sit around and wait, the bespectacled boy rose up from his comfy seat and started pacing around the room. ' Where could she be? She couldn't have forgotten, surely. This was THEIR night: each Wednesday at seven, Tori-Robbie quality time. Maybe something had come up, but if that was the case, why didn't she say anything to him about that at school today?'

The young puppeteer was so deep in thought, that he didn't hear the faint creaking of the door. Tori saw him standing there with his back to her and decided to surprise the boy. She tiptoed over to him and then covered his eyes with her hands. " Guess who?" Robbie groaned, before saying: " Tori Vega, who is inexcusably late for our weekly movie date." Tori quickly retracted her hands and that's when the ventriloquist spun around to face her with a huge frown on his face. The Latina sighed, knowing she was the one who'd caused the boy's bad mood. " Look Robbie, I'm very sorry, but I ran into Danny on my way over here. We started talking and I kinda lost track of…" Tori didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, as Robbie rudely interrupted her. " Danny, Danny, Danny. That's all you talk about these days. Why don't you give the subject of Danny a rest for a while, huh?"

The youngest Vega girl stared at her best friend in shock. She'd never seen him like this. He wasn't yelling or anything, but she could clearly hear the venom dripping from his words. " Robbie, hey, what do you want me to say? I like Danny, therefore I enjoy talking to him once in a while. Surely, you can't possibly have any objections to that?" Her question remained unanswered. Then, all of a sudden, Robbie huffed, and declared: " No, no, I guess not. I want to know one thing though." Tori smiled, glad that he'd become more reasonable. " What's that?" The curly-haired boy let out a deep sigh, then asked: " Do you like him more than you like me?" The tan girl laughed, before replying: " Of course not. How could you think that? You're my best friend, Robbie. I thought I was yours." Robbie let out a sigh of relief, then beamed at the girl. " You are, you are my best friend." Tori smiled brightly at him. " Good, can we hug now?" " Sure." , Robbie said, before hesitantly enveloping the slightly smaller girl into a tight embrace. As soon as Tori's body came into contact with his, it happened again: this kind of electric jolt running straight through his veins. He'd only started experiencing these currents about a month ago and it kind of freaked him out. He'd never felt anything like that before. Then there was also the fact that every time they touched, he started feeling uncomfortably warm. There used to be a time when he cherished the hugs he shared with his best friend, but nowadays, he tried to shun any possible contact with Tori's body. It just made him feel so weird to hold or touch her lately.

This was also the reason why after only a few seconds of cuddling, he gently pushed Tori away. The Latina got a confused look on her face, as she asked:" Robbie, is something wrong?" The bespectacled boy laughed uneasily and scratched the top of his head. " No, not at all. Everything's fine, it's just a little hot in here, that's all." The tan girl raised her eyebrow, then said: " O-kay. You sure that's all there is? You seem to be quite jumpy around me lately." An anxious feeling rose up in Robbie's gut, as he realized the girl was really beginning to notice his odd behavior. " Y…yeah, Tori. Of course that's all there is. Let's just watch a movie, shall we? Come on, what masterpiece did you bring over?" Tori smiled, before placing her backpack onto the couch and retrieving a copy of some old movie Robbie had never heard of. " It's called: ' Some kind of wonderful'. I've never seen it before, but Trina tells me it's a classic, so… lets watch it.", the Vega girl exclaimed excitedly. " Sure, pop it in.", Robbie said, before flopping back down on his black leather couch. Tori did as she was told, then took the seat next to her friend.

Robbie sighed deeply and tried in vain to scoot further away from Tori. It was an hour into the movie and he did not like the plotline at all! It was about this girl who was in love with her best friend, and it made him feel very uncomfortable for some reason. It did not help in the slightest, that Tori was currently clinging to him like a small child would to its mother. His body temperature was rising progressively by the second and all he wanted to do, was get the hell away. After a good five minutes of fidgeting about, Tori finally got the hint, as she slowly disentangled herself from his body. " Robbie, are you feeling okay?" The lanky boy hastily wiped the sweat of his forehead, before answering: " No, not really. I'm not feeling very well right now." Tori paused the movie, before facing him again, with a concerned look in her eyes. " You poor thing. Do you have a fever?" She brought one of her hands up to her best friend's forehead, but Robbie wouldn't have any of that, so he promptly turned his face away from her. " Robbie! Don't be so ridiculous. Let me feel your forehead, silly!" Robbie, who realized he was acting quite stupid, swallowed, before slowly flipping his head back around. " O…okay, you can feel."

The minute her hand made contact with his skin, the puppeteer started wishing he'd never agreed to her request. Her little fingers were just so incredibly soft and smooth and they nearly burned his skin. " God, you're glowing sweetie.", Tori stated in a caring tone. ' Y…yeah, my head really hurts too.", Robbie brought out, all the while wondering how he still managed to form a coherent sentence, with her touching him like that. You know it was true: his head really did ache, from all of those confusing thoughts he was experiencing. Then, much to his relief, Tori retracted her hand and dropped it back at her side. His feeling of euphoria didn't last long though, as the next minute the void was filled with the feel of full, velvety lips. The minute her mouth got pressed up against his flesh, the ventriloquist started feeling tingly all over. He felt hot and fuzzy and he momentarily lost the ability to think clearly. All that existed now, were Tori's wonderful lips. Luckily, the tan girl seemed to pick up on his agitation and quickly pulled away. Then she whispered: " Long ago, someone told me a boo-boo heals twice as fast, when you do that."

Robbie could only gulp. " Ye…yeah… Look Tori, I think you really better ought to be going. I mean: I don't wanna make you sick or anything." " Yeah, okay.", the Latina agreed, then added with a wink: " But, I'm coming back with soup in the morning." " Al…alright.", Robbie said, blushing a previouly undiscovered tint of red. The tan girl got up from the couch, grabbed her stuff and greeted her friend one last time. " Take care of yourself, RobRob. Love ya, bye." " Yeah, I will. Don't worry." The Vega girl was already halfway out the door, when Robbie softly added: " I love you too." Little did Tori know, his declaration held a completely different meaning from hers.

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**A/N: How was that for a third chapter? Hope it didn't suck too bad. Write something in the box below and a new chapter might show, LOL.**


	4. Of soup and lousy acting

The next day, Robbie was reluctant to get out of his bed. He had no immediate urge to see Tori, after he'd made a complete fool out of himself yesterday. ' God, she really must think I'm a moron now.', he thought. He only wished, that he would've acted normal. But, he couldn't have done that if he tried. And he would never be able to do it again. Certainly not, after finally figuring out what was wrong with him last night.

He'd pondered over his weird, new feelings towards his best friend for hours yesterday, and had come to a startling conclusion: he was in love with Tori. It all made sense: the way he'd go crazy, when she so much as touched him, the way he blushed, when she sent him a simple smile. The way he started sweating, when she gave him pecks on the cheek or the forehead. He once heard his father describe the same kind of feelings, when he'd fallen head over heels in love with his mother. But, big difference: His parents hadn't been best friends. They'd met in high school, had immediately began dating and then they became a couple: simple as that. He'd known Tori for his entire life, they'd become fast friends, they'd built up a strong bond, a bond based on trust and love.

But that love had always been purely platonic . He couldn't confess his feelings for her, cause he knew she would totally freak out, or worse: laugh at him. He had to face it: he just wasn't the kind of boy girls fell for. He had a pair of nerdy glasses, he was extremely weak and thin and he had an afro. He clenched his eyes shut, when he suddenly heard the doorbell. He already knew who it was and he really didn't wanna see her now.

" Hey, my little, sick sweetheart. I'm here with your soup.", Tori said, as she came walking into the hallway, with a toothy smile. " Yeah, uhm... thanks.", Robbie said, as he nearly yanked the thermos out of her hands. " Woah, there tiger. You could've just waited, till I gave it to you." Robbie stared down at the ground, as he said: " Yeah, yeah of course, I'm sorry." " It's okay, so how have you been?" " A little better, thanks. My fever has gone down and is practically nonexistent now." Tori smiled once again and, for a minute, Robbie really thought he was gonna faint.

" That's good, Rob. I'm glad you're feeling better." Then she took away the thermos and jokingly said: " So, I guess you won't be needing that soup anymore?" Hey! Give that back!", The ventriloquist shouted playfully. " No, no, I'm gonna eat it myself now. I'm a bit cold anyway.", The tan girl said, as she laughed heartily. Then, they heard an all too familiar voice declaring: " Come on, give the soup to the geek. You don't need it. You're already hot."

" Robbie!", the Latina yelled. " What?! It was Rex!", the puppeteer defended himself, before he started blushing profusely. " I know that you are the one controlling him!" Robbie said nothing to that statement, cause he knew it was partly true. Tori sighed, then shook her head, before saying: " You know what? It's fine. Just, don't do that too much." the puppeteer just nodded, before punishing Rex, by stuffing him under a sofa cushion. " I'm so sorry, Tori. Can I have a bowl of soup, please?" " Sure.", the Latina replied, in a good mood once again.

A little while later, they were both eating the soup in a comfortable silence. Robbie only broke it once, when he burned his tongue on the scalding hot liquid and started screeching like a little girl. Tori laughed for five straight minutes, before giving him a piece of advice: " Blow, blow, blow, Robbie Shapiro. That's the golden rule." Robbie had laughed along with her, and for a while, everything had been back to normal again. Just like it'd been in the good old days. That was until Tori received a text.

As the Latina read what it said, she giggled, then said: " I'm sorry, Robbie. It's from Danny. I made plans to go to school with him today, since you're unavailable." As soon as he heard that, Robbie started feeling incredibly nauseous. But that wasn't all that went through him, no: he also felt angry. It was like she'd just coldly dumped him, like some…some poor, crippled, retarded…IDIOT! " Oh, so I guess we now know, who took my place in your life then?!", the ventriloquist yelled. He hadn't meant to shout, but the words just flew out of his mouth, freely. The tan girl just sighed. " God, I already told you: he's not my best friend. Why are you freaking out like this? Don't you trust me?" It was the lanky boy's turn to sigh, as he said: " Of course I trust you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." " It's okay, but what has gotten into you lately? You've been acting like this for some time now." " I don't know, it's like…like…", Robbie tried, as Tori eyed him expectantly.

" Like I have this… Hulk trapped inside of me. And he only comes out when you're around. I don't know why." The Latina raised an eyebrow, before saying: " Well, that's weird. May I suggest keeping your inner Hulk under control though, for me?" Robbie slowly nodded. Then, Tori got up, and gave him a peck on the cheek: " Good, I'm out now. See you later, bye." " Yeah, bye.", the puppeteer replied in a bit of a daze. When the tan girl had gone out of sight, he softly touched the tingly area on his cheek, where her lips had been and smiled. " Take that, Danny.", he whispered, before getting up from his kitchen chair and heading back over to bed.

It was only a week later, when there was a loud, persistent knocking on his door. Robbie immediately rushed out of the living room to open it and was met with the form of a very distraught, soaking wet Tori Vega. " T..Tori, what's wrong? What are you doing here?" " It's that stupid Sikowitz and that moronic cheese head: Ryder Daniels." " What? What did they do?", the ventriloquist asked, raising an eyebrow. He had absolutely no clue, as he didn't have Sikowitz as a teacher. Tori and him only took a few classes together, at their new school: Hollywood Arts, cause while Tori had chosen acting as her main talent, Robbie had opted for ventriloquism.

Well, we had to put on Romeo and Juliet today, as you might still remember." " Yeah, but that worked out okay, right? I mean: you're playing Juliet now, aren't you?" " Yeah, yeah, but that's not the problem.", The tan girl spoke impatiently. " Then… what is?", Robbie asked, getting more confused by the second. " Look, can we go to your room for this? I mean: your parents are in and all and all of this is kinda embarrassing." " Sure.", the baffled puppeteer replied, before they went upstairs.

Once they were both comfortably seated on Robbie's bed, Tori began explaining her problem: " Well, we had to do a kissing scene today and… guess what?" " What?", Robbie just asked. The Latina let out a loud sigh. " Well for one: Sikowitz said: ' Good actor, not such a good kisser.' When I asked him for an explanation, he just said:' I don't feel the passion at all, it's like you're kissing your brother.' And then, as if that wasn't enough already, Ryder…oh sorry: 'ROMEO', said: ' yeah, he's right. You can't kiss for shit.'

" O-kay, so that's why you came over here in the pouring rain? To tell me about two unimportant people insulting your kissing skills?" " Yes!", Tori exclaimed. " And Sikowitz is quite an important authority, when it comes to acting, as much as I hate to admit it.", the tan girl declared, in sheer frustration. " Sooo, what do you want me to do, tell him he was wrong?" " Exactly! I'm gonna kiss you in a minute and then, you're going to tell me exactly what you thought!" Robbie flinched a little, not quite used to this demanding tone, then asked: " Wha…" He couldn't finish his sentence, as in the next minute, there were two deliciously tender lips pressing themselves firmly against his.

For a while, he couldn't breathe: Tori Vega was actually kissing him! Then, after his mind kicked back into function, it only gave him one order: kiss her back! And so he did. After all, he only did that to help her… yeah, to help her. Not because, he wanted to explore every inch of her captivating red lips. He was quite shocked and nearly came round to opening his eyes, when a warm, nimble tongue slid past his lips and started caressing his own pink organ.

Once he'd gotten used to the feeling, he couldn't help himself, as he let out a soft moan. This only seemed to encourage his friend to deepen the kiss, as she grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him flush against her body. Robbie of course, couldn't stay behind, so he gently started caressing Tori's feather soft brown hair. He was this close to pushing her down on the bed, when suddenly all warmth disappeared. " Robbie, Robbie! Hey, open your eyes! The ventriloquist did as was requested, hereby getting a front row seat of a very flushed-looking Tori Vega. " So... I take it you liked it?"

**A/N: So, I take it you liked it? Poor Robbie, getting his feelings thrown in his face like that… But it gets better…maybe…IF you REVIEW. Just joking, but… reviews are always nice. **


	5. While you were sleeping

" So, I take it you liked it?", the Latina asked, a perky smile gracing her beautiful features. Robbie just sat there, in lieu of words, with his mouth agape. " Robbie, you okay?", Tori inquired, waving a hand in front of her stunned best friend's face. " Huh?", the bespectacled boy asked, a fazed-out expression, plastered on his face. " Was it any good?" " Yes, of course… it was perfect, amazing." " Good, then you can go and tell that to Sikowitz."

" Yeah…", Robbie said, sighing and briefly staring off into the distance. " You were… perfect, I mean: you are perfect, Tori. I lo…", As he realized just what he was about to say, the baffled ventriloquist quickly stopped himself from talking. Meanwhile, his friend was staring at him, with her eyebrows raised. " You what?", she asked, confusion overruling her visage. " I uhm…I, I love uh… pizza, yeah that's it. I love pizza, let's order a pizza, heey!", he suddenly shouted, way too overexcited, as he jumped up from the bed.

" Robbie, you sure you're okay?", Tori asked, briefly lying down on her friend's bed. " Yeah, of course I am. I just want some pizza. Wouldn't you like some pizza?" Tori frowned. " Uhm…not really, no. I need to get back home anyway. I promised my parents I'd be back in time for dinner." " No!", the lanky boy suddenly shouted. " No?", the tan girl asked, getting more and more confused, with the way Robbie was acting.

" Please stay.", Robbie spoke softly, sitting back down on the bed and grabbing a hold of Tori's hand. " Fine, I'll stay.", the youngest Vega told him, before bringing his hand up to her mouth and gently kissing it. This action alone, made Robbie blush like crazy. " Thanks for your cooperation, Robbie." " Hey, anytime.", the ventriloquist murmured, a love-struck smile tugging at the corners of his lips. They then proceeded, to lie down on the bed, as Tori cuddled up close to her best friend.

Robbie slowly woke up, getting a little panicky, as he felt himself being restrained, from getting up. Then he looked down and got a huge smile on his face, when he saw Tori sleeping peacefully, her head on his shoulder and her hand still clutching his. Wow, they'd been sleeping and yet, here they were: still holding hands. 'That's gotta count for something, right?', he thought, involuntarily hugging the girl's body closer to his chest. He shuddered, when Tori moved her head closer to his neck, her lips now millimeters apart from his skin, hot breath washing over his pulse point. This has got to be heaven. He couldn't help it as his mind suddenly drifted back to their kiss, it had felt so amazing, so…so…real. Then, he frowned cause he knew it hadn't been real to her. To her, it had just been a stage kiss, a kiss to practice. He knew for a fact that Tori hadn't felt any romantic feelings during it.

Looking at her sweet face, he couldn't refrain from tucking a stray strand of matted hair behind her ear and whispering: " Oh Tori, if you only knew… If you only knew, how I long to touch your perfect face and caress those wonderful cheekbones. How I long to kiss your soft lips and make you smile every single day. I love you so much, Tori." Just as he'd gotten out the last word, the Latina's eyes were starting to flutter. " Huh? Did you say something, Rob?"

He quickly shifted and tried desperately to regain his composure. " Uhm, I was just talking to myself a little bit." " O-kay." She said, before stretching herself and yawning. ' God, she even yawns cute.', Robbie found himself thinking. " What time is it?", she muttered groggily. The puppeteer looked at his watch, then replied: " Wow, 9 pm, we were out for more than two hours." " Oh my god, I really should be getting back. Everyone's probably worried sick." Then, she got up and picked up her bag. " Bye Robbie, it was nice sleeping together."( **A/N: Oh my, do I detect an ambiguous pun?) **" Yeah bye, see you tomorrow.", Robbie said, just as the Latina walked out the door. When she'd left, the ventriloquist touched his lips, which still seemed to burn, from Tori's kiss. The same kiss he would surely remember, for the rest of his life.

**Time jump: Four years later**

Robbie was just walking up to Tori's locker, expecting to have a nice, casual conversation with his best friend, when he saw something quite unnerving: Danny was already occupying her time, apparently. Robbie practically growled, as he saw just how close the boy he always loathed, stood to his Tori, that's right: HIS Tori. He would always consider her his, even if there were a million better-looking boys throwing themselves at her feet, as was now the case.

It was no wonder really: Tori had really matured over the past year. She'd grown slightly taller and was now sporting a pair of gorgeous, long legs, as a result. Plus there was the fact that her chest, was slightly more pronounced now. Robbie gulped, as soon as he started having that last thought, inwardly scolding himself for even noticing such things on his best friend. What would Tori think of him, if she ever found out?

His thoughts were interrupted, when he suddenly heard a cheerful voice shout: " Hey, congrats birthday-boy!" He flipped around, only to be faced with Tori. ' How did she get here, without me even noticing?', he briefly wondered. Then he let her words sink in, as he remembered something: ' That's right, it IS my birthday, uggh.' " Thanks Tor, but it's really no big deal." " Oh but it is… you only turn sixteen once. You can go and get your driver's license now." " Uh… I'm not really sure about that, I'm already a mess when I'm just driving a bike." He was quite surprised, when Tori started giggling and lightly punched him in the shoulder. " Oh, you just rock my world, Rob. How do you do it?", she finally brought out, when her laughter had died down. " I don't know… I wasn't trying to.", the ventriloquist replied, still not quite sure, why she was so terribly happy all of a sudden.

Then her face suddenly turned serious again, as she cleared her throat. " Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that birthday party." Robbie raised his eyebrows. " What birthday party?" " Your birthday party, of course, silly. You're acting so weird today.", the tan girl said, as she shook her head. " Not weirder than usual, what about my birthday party?" The Latina nervously licked her lips, before saying: " Well uhm… here's the thing, Robbie: I don't think I'll be able to make it." " What? Why not?", the puppeteer asked, genuinely upset. After all, what was a party without Tori? " Because I kinda have a…"

" Hey cheekbones, see you Friday.", Danny rudely interrupted their conversation, while pecking Tori on the cheek. ' I'll say', the puppeteer thought, his mouth wide open. " Yeah, see you then.", Tori said, smiling like an idiot. Robbie let out a sigh of frustration, as his favorite girl was practically swooning. Of course: that had been the reason for her to be all up in high spirits. Then he took a minute, to really process Danny's words. ' He'd said Friday, didn't he? this Friday? ' Oh, no freaking way!'

" So… you're having a date this Friday night?" " Yeah, I'm very sorry, Rob, but I really like him, you know." " No, no, it's fine, I totally understand.", Robbie retorted, lying through his teeth. Luckily he'd more or less learned to master the art of controlling his pent-up emotions around Tori. After all, he couldn't afford to lose her, through something stupid, as his selfish, little feelings. " Oh really? Thank you so much, that means the world to me!", the tan girl squealed, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a hard peck on his cheek. " It's nothing, just go out there and have fun.", the lanky boy managed to say. " I will." Tori assured him, before she started making her way over to class. Then, she turned around one last time: " Oh… and Robbie?" " Yeah?" " Seeing as it's the first date and all, will you cross your fingers for me, for good luck?!" Robbie put on another fake-smile, as he crossed his clammy fingers and yelled: " Good luck!", in his best happy voice. " Thanks!", his friend shouted back.

When Tori was safely out of sight, the broken puppeteer finally let all of his emotions get the upper-hand. He bowed his head down and started crying slightly. He just couldn't believe, that she would ditch HIS birthday party, for a stupid date, with stupid Danny. ' I guess Danny finally DID replace me in her life.', he thought sadly, before heading over to the restroom to recover, from this sheer shock.

**A/N: And that, my dear readers, was another tragic occurrence in the life of young Robbie Shapiro. Should Tori apologize for her deeds, or should she just go for that mega-awesome date with Danny? Let me know what you think, even if it's: " Fuck you Danny, you giant douche!"**, **you can still post it, I won't mind. See you in another chapter.**

**XOXO**


	6. You are what matters to me

**A/N: I'm back. I'm truly sorry, people. I meant to update sooner, but exams got in the way. It was like: studying-sleeping, sleeping-studying. But that's over now. From now on, I'll try updating regularly again. On with the chapter, ship Rori ahoy!**

Friday evening was approaching fast and Robbie was just putting up the last decorations for his birthday party. He was still kinda bummed that Tori wasn't coming, but he tried to keep his spirits up. After all, there were other people in the world besides Tori and he'd invited like twenty of them to his party. " Is everything ready, Robert?", sounded the voice of his mother, from somewhere below him. " Yes, mom. When are you leaving again?", the annoyed teenager asked, sighing loudly. He didn't need his mother lurking about, when he was trying to entertain his contemporaries. " Barry is coming to pick me up in ten minutes. Don't worry, none of your friends will have to deal with your boring old mom." " Good.", the ventriloquist brought out, as he ascended the ladder and jumped down, right in front of his mother's feet. Then he picked up Rex and wiped the remnants of floor-dust off of his beloved doll.

His mom frowned, before asking: " Must you walk around with that thing 24/7?" Her tone had almost been accusatory. Robbie just huffed in response. He was already very used to this argument and he was getting more and more fed up with it. " Yes mom, and that THING has a name, you know." " Right, Reginald right?" Before the puppeteer could even dignify that question with an answer, his mom had already started speaking again: " Look Robert. I didn't mean to offend you. All I'm saying is: it's really not healthy to carry around a doll at your age. You do understand that, right?" " Well, it's not just a doll to me, as I'm sure you know! And stop calling me Robert!", Robbie yelled, his face becoming red as a radish. " Your NAME is Robert! And don't you take that tone with me young man or else…" " Or else what?!", the curly-haired boy shouted defiantly, with all his might. " Else, I'm gonna call off your party.", the middle-aged woman whispered threateningly, while squinting her eyes." Fine mom, have it your way. Call me Robert, insult Rex. See if I care.", Robbie said coldly, before retreating to his bedroom.

About two hours later, Tori was enjoying herself at an Italian restaurant with Danny. The boy in question, was telling her all about his travels abroad, while she listened with the utmost fascination. It seemed Danny had been literally everywhere and it was quite interesting to hear about all of his predicaments in different countries. " And the opera house in Prague is to die for, Tori. All golden and antique." " I really haven't the faintest idea about that, Danny. I never even went past the boundaries of the U.S.." " Really? Well, maybe we can travel together sometime." Tori was just about to answer his question, when her Pear phone buzzed. - _How's the date? X Robbie_ -, said the message and almost instantly, a feeling of guilt washed over Tori. Here he was, asking her how her date was going, while she was shamelessly ditching his important party.

This hadn't been the first time she'd felt guilty, mind you. It had started, when she noticed how sad Robbie truly was about her not attending his event. Yes, he acted happy, but she'd known Robbie for so long and saw right through it. First of all: there was the fact that his face would visibly drop, whenever Danny was mentioned and secondly there'd been that almost pouty look, when he'd asked her: " So, you're having a date Friday night?" So yes, she'd felt guilty all week, but now with his text message, it was like the feeling was truly culminating. " Tori?", she suddenly heard someone say, from way in the distance. " Tori, you okay?" She slowly raised her head and looked straight into Danny's now concerned irises. " Yeah…uhm of course… what were you saying again?" " I was just suggesting that we'd travel together, at some point in the future."

Just then, Tori's phone made another noise and she hurriedly pressed the button, to reveal a new tell-tale message: _- My party's kinda lame. There are like five people here and one of them, is my sister, LOLZ. Hope you're having a better time. XOXO Rob- _That's when Tori truly realized it, her place wasn't here, but at Robbie's. " Uhm Danny, if you'll excuse me, there's somewhere I need to be." Danny's mouth went wide-open, then he asked: " Not an emergency, I hope?" " Well, you could say that. I just… I'm really needed somewhere else." " Oh, okay. It's not because I'm boring you, is it? I mean, I know I'm not the most smooth tal…" Before he could say anymore, Danny was cut off, by a firm but gentle kiss. He was surprised at first, but then quickly started kissing Tori back, with all the passion he could muster. Danny was just about to insert tongue into the game, when Tori abruptly pulled away. " Well, if that didn't say: I had fun, then I don't know what would. Goodbye Danny, see you Monday." " Yeah, uhm…bye.", the awe-struck boy brought out hesitantly. Then he yelled:" So, does this make us boyfriend and girlfriend now?!" " Do I live in California?! Yes, of course, you big goof!", Tori retorted, before smiling and blowing her new boyfriend a kiss, which earned quite a few whistles from bystanders. Then she rushed out and got running: she had a mission to accomplish.

Meanwhile, Robbie was sitting on his couch in the living room, trying to ignore his sister's taunting remarks. " Told ya nobody would show." " Oh shut up, Jessica. People did show, see?", he said, gesturing to four geeky kids drinking cool aid at the other side of the room. " Yeah, what awesome people. It's the nerd-brigade. Woohoo Rob, score!", Jessica retorted sarcastically. " That's it, I've had enough.", the ventriloquist said, before picking up Rex and heading outside.

Once in the open air, Robbie finally broke down in tears. Twenty-five people! He'd invited twenty-five people and in the end, only four showed up. This party was just suckish, beyond words. The only possible way, to keep himself from going insane, was to text Tori. Even hearing about Danny, was better than having to face the fact, that he was apparently the least popular kid in school. He sighed, as he wiped some tears away, which had leaked down upon his chin. " It seem like you're all I have, little guy.", he whispered, as he ran a hand through his puppet's artificial hair. Just then, he saw a figure running towards him. It took him a while to actually establish the fact, that it was Tori. When he did, he smiled brightly and started running towards her.

" Tori, you came!" " Of course I came, I couldn't possibly miss out on my best friend's birthday party now, could I?" Robbie's face just got brighter by the minute, at the sight of the girl he'd been missing all night. " I can't believe you made it. What about Danny?" " What about him? I'm sure he's perfectly fine and now I just need to make sure you're perfectly fine as well." " Oh, I'm already fine. Just having you here, is enough for me." At that statement, Tori playfully shook her head and said: " No no, Robbie Shapiro. You're not completely fine until you've received my presents." " Oh… and what may those be?" " Well…here's number one.", the Latina said, handing him a large female wooden doll, which had previously been hidden behind her back.

Robbie's mouth went wide-open, as Tori announced: " Robbie, I would like to introduce you and Rex to Regina." " Wow, Tori, I don't know what to say…" " A simple 'thanks' would already suffice. I just figured that Rex must feel lonely from time to time, so I bought him a little friend. " Well, I'm sure Rex appreciates it." " Yeah, I appreciate it, but she can never compare to you, foxy lady." " Robbie!", Tori yelled, slightly offended. " Rex!", the puppeteer shouted, at his turn. " What? She's sexy.", the puppet brought out, with all the audacity of a smooth Casanova. " Okay, that's a time-out for you, mister. You're going in the closet, later.", Robbie spoke sternly, a hint of pink adorning his features. ' Thank god it's already dark.', the ventriloquist found himself thinking, before putting Rex down on the lawn. " So… anyway are you ready for number two?" " Bring it on.", Robbie replied enthusiastically.

" This…", the tan girl began, as she pulled a ring out of her pocket. " is an eternal symbol of our friendship and I hope you're willing to wear it, cause I've made it myself." Then, she slowly took a hold of her friend's hand and slid the ring around his finger. Robbie gulped, not only because her fingers were nearly scorching his flesh, but also because he saw the symbolism behind it. This would connect them for life, almost like husbands and wives.

" It uh… it's got our initials in it and I'm wearing one too, see?", she said, flashing him her finger, with a similar golden jewel on it. Seeing just how much he meant to Tori, Robbie couldn't help himself, as he flung his arms around her and placed a sweet, but firm peck on her lips. " I'm glad you like it.", Tori chuckled, her hot breath enflaming his earlobe. " Oh Tori, I'm never taking it off again.", the lanky boy half-stuttered, before holding her even closer to him. Robbie was overcome with happiness. This night was perfect, nothing could possibly ruin it. Nothing could possibly shatter this pure moment of bliss. Or so he thought… Until Tori drily announced: "Oh, and by the way: I kissed Danny. We're a couple now. Thanks for crossing those fingers, Rob."

**A/N: Oh, bittersweet ending. This was a very spontaneous spur-of-the-moment-thing and I hope it was to your liking. If it was, leave me a little something and I might just possibly, maybe continue.**


	7. True friendship

" Robbie?", Tori asked, concern shining in her dark brown eyes. Robbie swallowed once, before loosening his grip on the girl he was so desperately in love with and throwing her a somewhat unsure glance. " Y…yeah?", he brought out hoarsely. " What's wrong? Aren't you happy for me? I thought you'd be happy for me." Upon seeing Tori's cute pout, Robbie couldn't do anything other than put on a bright smile and reply: " Of course I am happy for you. I was uhm… just a little overwhelmed, you know. These are very incredible gifts." He was relieved, when he saw Tori smiling that enigmatic smile again. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad because of him.

" Well, I put some thought into that ring. The plan was to give it to you on Monday, but I changed my mind." " Why?" The tan girl let out a barely audible sigh, before saying " Because in the end, I've known you a lot longer than I've known Danny and your sixteenth birthday is quite something. I couldn't just miss it." Robbie at his turn, flashed her a devoted and thankful smile. " Thanks for coming, Tor. It uh…it really means a hell of a lot." He frowned, when his friend gave him a reprimanding look. " What's the matter?" " Don't curse, Robbie. Hell is a place, not a swearword." The puppeteer just chuckled, before saying: " That's my Tori. Do you wanna come inside?" " Sure, lead the way."

Once inside, Robbie got rid of all the obnoxious nerds and sat down on the couch, with Tori right beside him. " Wow, I don't think I even know those guys.", Tori remarked, raising a questioning eyebrow. " Well, I know them a little. Their names are: Tim, Greg, Chuck and Kirk and they're all members of the… sound the drumroll: chess club!", Robbie yelled, as though he was announcing the result of an extremely important contest. Tori just chuckled. " No?! Really?! I never would've guessed." Then her face turned serious again, as she said: " I'm really sorry, that there weren't more people here tonight, Rob." The ventriloquist shrugged his shoulders and put on a sad smile. " Eh, It's not your fault that I am a stupid, boring geek." At that statement, the Latina got a somewhat shocked facial expression. " Hey, don't say that. You are none of those things, do you hear me?" " No?", Robbie asked, his eyes filling with tears once more.

Tori grabbed a firm hold of his hand, rubbed her thumb over his palm and then replied: " Of course not. You, Robbie Shapiro are an incredible, amazing, nice, funny, fantastic guy and anyone who doesn't see that is either a douchebag or a dumb retard." " Wow, Tori thanks. You must mean that, since you were actually cursing." " I certainly do mean it. There's a reason you're my best friend, you know." Robbie let out another frustrated sigh, before asking: " Why do you even bother with a loser like me, Tor? You could've picked a new friend ages ago. You know, someone good-looking and cool, just like you." Tori tightened her grip on his hand and looked up at him, her eyes filled with honest sincerity: " Please believe me when I say, that I don't want anyone other than you as my best friend, Rob. You helped me through all my childhood worries and I wouldn't dream of ever replacing you. You're the best best friend ever."

Hearing those words come from Tori's lips, made Robbie insanely happy and he couldn't help it, as tears of joy started welling up in his eyes. Seeing what her statement had caused, Tori immediately grew concerned again and started rubbing her friend's back in a comforting fashion. " Hey, you do believe me right?" " Yeah, it's just… I'm so incredibly flabbergasted right now." " These….", he said, pointing to the wet droplets on his face, " are tears of joy." The tan girl grinned, before placing her head on Robbie's chest and hugging him close to her body. " Oh Robbie, you're so cute." " Really, you don't think I'm an enormous pansy?" Tori playfully slapped him on the arm, before answering: " Stop getting yourself down. You are awesome." After she'd said that, they just remained sitting there in a comfortable kind of silence.

Then Robbie broke it, when he asked: " Tori?" " Yeah?", the tan girl murmured into his chest. " Even if all those people I'd invited had shown up, it wouldn't have been complete without you." Hearing this, Tori quickly lifted her head to look up at him, with the biggest smile on her face. " Thanks Robbie. I'm glad to be here with you too." " Good.", the puppeteer whispered, before interlacing his fingers with Tori's and resting his head against the sofa cushions.

It was only a few months later, that Tori suddenly started skipping class, hereby getting Robbie worried sick. After four days of not seeing her, he finally decided to render her a visit. As he drove up to her house(yes, he'd gotten his driver's license.), he couldn't help but wonder just what had gotten her into this state. It wasn't even a week ago, that he'd seen her happily strolling around the park with Danny. She'd seemed pretty happy back then, he'd assumed.

Yes, he just assumed it. He was forced to just assume things about her, after Tori had suddenly stopped talking to him two weeks ago. Oh, it had started out innocent enough: at first they'd just talked less, because of her relationship with Danny, but then they'd gradually started seeing each other less and less. The ultimate result now being, that they didn't have any type of conversation at all anymore. " Damn you, Danny.", Robbie brought out frustrated, while smashing his fist against the steering wheel.

He finally arrived at the Vega household and didn't waste any more time, as her hastily pounded on the door. When he'd knocked about ten times and still received no reply, he finally gave up and retrieved the spare key from under the doormat. Once inside, he couldn't see any sign of Tori and he grew more and more anxious. He ultimately mounted the stairs, to check if she was somewhere up there.

As he came to the middle of the stairway, he stopped in his tracks, as he suddenly heard a faint sobbing noise. With each step he took, it grew louder and louder, until it finally reached a crescendo, when he stood outside of his best friend's bedroom door. Not wasting any more time, he swiftly threw the door open and was surprised at what he saw. Sitting right in front of him, was Tori Vega. But Robbie had never ever in his life seen her like this. Her bed was littered with tissues and she was visibly upset. She was still wearing her pajamas and kept mumbling stuff to herself. She didn't even seem to have noticed Robbie's presence. " Tori… what on earth happened?"

**A/N: Oh cliffhanger. Hope this chapter wasn't too rushed. Anyway, tell me your musings and I'll update sooner.**


	8. Let's get ready to rumble

" Tori, what happened?", Robbie asked, now getting extremely uncomfortable, as she still hadn't uttered a word. " Come on, Tor. You can tell me. Does it have something to do with Danny?", he inquired, as he went over to her and calmly took his place, on the edge of the broken girl's bed. Another couple of seconds passed, before she finally responded with a weak: " y…yeah." " Well, what did he do? Did you guys have an argument, or something?", Robbie asked tentatively. He was hoping it would only be that, but he feared the worst. " Danny, he…he…he dumped me, Robbie."

" He what?! Why?! How?!", the lanky boy yelled, in utter disbelief. He just couldn't comprehend the fact, that anyone would ever want to break up with Tori. In his eyes, she was the absolute, one and only perfect girl. " Oh Robbie, he… he wanted me t…", the girl tried her hand at a full sentence, but lost herself in lots of sniveling and sobbing, when she was halfway through. Seeing Tori like this, Robbie couldn't possibly just sit there and watch her break down. So, he quickly slid further onto the mattress and gently pulled the Latina into his lap. " What did he want from you, Tori? Please talk to me. You can't keep this to yourself, if it upsets you this much.", the ventriloquist begged, lightly stroking the girl's beautiful auburn locks. " He wanted me to give him a….", the girl swallowed once, before continuing, in a more delicate manner: " He wanted me to do… things, Robbie… sexual things… things I wasn't ready for." " I said, I didn't want to, but then he tried to… you know… take what he wanted by force."

Robbie couldn't believe what he was hearing, as he felt himself becoming more and more infuriated with this asshole. " What?! You mean he tried to rape you?! I'm soo going to kill that guy!", he shouted, as he determinedly went to stand beside the bed, with his fists balled. " No, no, Robbie. It's okay, I didn't let him. I pushed him off of me. Then he became so incredibly pissed, I had never seen him like that before and he told me that I was ugly and not worth his precious time. Then, he broke up with me." As soon as the last word was out, the girl burst out into tears once again and Robbie hurriedly rushed over to her side, wiping the fresh drops away. " I'm really sorry, Tor. I… I actually thought he was a pretty decent guy.", he said softly, as he started rubbing her shoulder. Tori waited a while, until the crying subsided, then spoke again: " Well, at the beginning he was, you know. He actually reminded me a little of you, to be honest. He always seemed so shy and sweet. But then, all of a sudden, he wanted to skip class together. I wanted to be near him, so naturally, I went along with it. Then it all seemed to escalate. First, he gave me a hard time about our friendship-ring. He even threatened to burn it, if I wore it again in his presence. That was also, why he forbade me to talk to you. He was like insanely jealous of you."

" And finally, he really drove me up the wall, when he started jabbering on and on about sex. His friends had told him all about going third base with a girl, and he wanted to find out for himself what it was like. I tried to explain to him, how I really wasn't ready to take that step, but he would never listen." " Then everything just blew up, when he tried to do stuff, yesterday." " Damn,Tor. That stuff is really terrible. The more I hear about it, the more I want to punch him in the face." " Oh no, please don't do that, Rob. The last thing I want is people fighting, because of little old me.", the tan girl stated sadly, lightly rubbing her hand over Robbie's fist.

While she was doing this, the puppeteer noticed something: his initials on her ring, were blackened out and replaced with two different letters: D.S. " I reckon that's his work too?", Robbie asked. Tori just nodded. Then, she let out a deep sigh. " I thought he loved me.", she said, as her lip started trembling slightly and new tears made an unwelcome appearance at the bottom of her bright brown orbs.

" Hey, hey Tori, listen to me: he's obviously a son-of-a-bitch, who isn't worthy of your love, in the slightest.", Robbie coed into her ear, as he wrapped two comforting arms around the shaking girl's waist. " That's just it, Robbie: I loved that son-of-a-bitch." As soon as she'd said that, Robbie felt a very painful sting in his heart. He'd always assumed, that she just liked Danny, not that she loved him. Hearing her say those words, hurt him more, than if the thunder would strike him, right in the head. Nevertheless, he went on comforting her, to the best of his abilities. She really needed a friend right now.

" It's okay, Tor. You'll get over him in time. What do you say we go do something fun, to get your mind off of things?" Tori sniffled a little, before wiping a remaining salty drop away and asking: " Like what?" Robbie shrugged his shoulders, then replied: " Oh, I don't know. Watch a movie or something? Isn't there some film out there, that you really like? Something happy and funny?", the ventriloquist asked, tucking a strand of hair behind Tori's ear.

The tan girl pondered for a bit, as she rested her hand underneath her chin and bit her lip. ' She looks so cute when she does that.', Robbie found himself thinking. " Well… I used to really enjoy the Pink Panther-series." " Well, there you go then. We'll rent one of those.", Robbie stated enthusiastically, while clapping his hands.

A broad smile crept upon his features, when he saw Tori giggling. " You goof, you're acting like a twelve year old girl, who just got asked out by her crush." " Well, I have news for you: Brad did ask me out and he's very yummy and sexy.", the bespectacled boy said, in a falsetto voice, while blinking his eyes and clasping his hands together. Tori playfully hit his chest and shook her head, smiling. " Oh you."

Then he stood up and declared: " Well, that's enough craziness for now. Let's go rent a movie!" Much to Robbie's surprise, though, Tori shook her head. " What? You don't want to?" " No it's not that, but come on, Rob. Renting a movie? That's so old-fashioned. I'm sure I have those movies somewhere in my Netflix queue." Robbie sighed, before saying: " No, let's not use the stupid internet for a change. I want to do it, like in the good old days. It would be just like all those times, that we used to watch movies together on Wednesday. You know: just us, in front of the TV-set, on the couch." " Mmh… I do miss those days.", the Latina said, as she pretended to think about his offer. Then, she displayed one of her signature Disney-smiles, before saying: " Okay, come on, let's go."

Once at the video store, Tori seemed to be in a way better mood and Robbie was just too happy, that he was the indirect cause of this. They were both laughing, as the ventriloquist kept pointing at ridiculous B-movies, while excitedly shouting: " We should totally rent that! I heard it's the best!" Then all of a sudden, Tori stopped her giggling, as her face turned pale and her body went rigid. Robbie followed her gaze, and found himself to be completely disgusted and pissed, at what he saw. Right there, in the middle of the store, stood Danny and he wasn't alone, oh no. He was soundly making-out with a floozy blonde girl, to be more precise.

Robbie didn't know what force drove him, as he marched over to the boy in question, with quick strides and yelled: " What the fuck is wrong with you, huh Spencer?! You just broke up with Tori, yet here you are, sucking face with someone new! The fucking guts!" Danny momentarily detached himself from the slutty blonde, to give the other boy a comeback. " And just who in the hell are you, nerd?", he inquired, on an annoyed tone.

" His name is Robbie Shapiro and he, is more of man than you'll ever be, Daniel!", Tori suddenly interrupted, surprising both boys tremendously. Danny quickly recovered though, as he stated with a smirk: " So, Tori. Out on another date with the nerd, eh? " Well, well, if that isn't a coincidence, I don't know what is. I'd like you to meet my new girlfriend: Tammy Waterstone." Then he bent over towards Tori and semi-whispered: " She actually does let you touch her tits." Robbie had heard everything though. " What was that?!" Danny just grinned evilly at him, before replying: " I just said: she lets you touch her tits, her t-i-t-s. You do know what tits are, don't you?" Then he gasped and added: " Oh no, of course you don't. You have glasses and a puppet. The only tits you'll ever see, are probably your mom's." After he'd said that, he chortled in satisfaction and demeaningly tapped his ex-girlfriend on the nose. Tori's anger had now reached a peak. That bastard was soo out of line.

She was just about to slap him, when somebody did it for her and Danny doubled over in pain." There, that was for insulting me and my best friend and for dumping her, and for trying to rape her!", a now furious Robbie Shapiro yelled. " That the best you got, Shapiro? Darn, you really are girl. I bet you won't be able to get Vega in the sack, either.", Tori's ex taunted. That's when Robbie lashed out again, this time hitting the other boy, square in the eye, with surprising strength.

" Did you have something else to say, Dan?", the puppeteer asked threateningly, squinting his eyes. Tori had already sensed this wouldn't end well, so she softly grabbed a hold of her friend's arm. " Come on, Robbie, let's go." " No, I'm not done with him.", Robbie stated defiantly, keeping his focus on his new enemy. " I asked you a question, asswad! Did you have something else to say?!" " Robbie.", Tori tried, shaking his arm, but the boy in question didn't seem to have heard her. He just continued staring at Danny, with murder in his eyes.

The latter boy smirked again, as he retorted: " Yeah, I have something to say. This!" As soon as he'd uttered that last word, his fist collided with Robbie's face harshly and he fell down, taking a whole shelf of DVD's with him. The last thing the ventriloquist remembered, before he passed out, was a dull pain in his nose, Tori's angelic face and someone shouting: " Robbie, Robbie, Robbie!", repeatedly.

**A/N: If you liked it, don't forget to let me know, XOXO.**


	9. Tickling, teasing and thanking

**A/N: Hey guys, I am again extremely sorry for not updating, but this time It was beyond me: the stupid internet crashed last week, and it's only been fixed since like an hour ago. Anyways, have fun reading this new part! **

Robbie slowly opened his eyes, only to be faced with an extremely blurry version of reality. Colors were swarming all around him and he quickly realized, that his glasses were not on his face. " Tori…Tori, are you there?", was the first thing he uttered. He received no reply whatsoever and was quickly overcome with a great feeling of helplessness. He always felt very vulnerable, without his glasses, especially at times like these. He hadn't the slightest clue as to where he was, or where Tori could be, for that matter. " Tori?!", he tried again, now belting out her name, at the top of his lungs. The next minute, he could hear stumbling, followed by the sound of a very familiar voice.

" Robbie, oh my god, I'm so glad you're awake!", Tori all but shouted into his ear, as she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him closer. " I was so worried about you.", she murmured against her friend's cheek. " Tori, could you please…Tori, Tori, choking… hazard.", the ventriloquist muttered, causing Tori to promptly release him. " Oh, I'm sorry but you were out of it for nearly half an hour, after Danny hit you. I was afraid you'd never wake up again." Even though Robbie couldn't exactly see it for himself, he knew for sure that Tori was now crying. He could hear it in her tone of voice and he quickly regretted, that he'd been so harsh. " I'm sorry, Tori. I didn't mean to scare you. First things first though: Can you hand me back my glasses? I…uhm, I'm having trouble seeing you." " Oh, of course.", Tori retorted, only now remembering that Robbie's glasses were still on his nightstand, where she'd first put them when she'd dragged him onto his bed. She quickly grabbed a hold of them, folded them open and perched them on top of his nose.

" There, I'd only taken them off as a precaution." " It's okay, I understand, but I was panicking a little earlier. It's pretty scary, when you've just recovered from a state of unconsciousness and you're not able to see where you're at." Tori nodded empathically, before saying: " I get it, I'm very sorry." " Don't worry about it, so did you ever get your hands on a movie?" " Nope.", The Latina stated sadly, popping the p. " After the fight, me and…you know who, got into a huge argument and the manager threw us all out." " Well, I guess it's only fa…OW!", Robbie brought out, clutching his nose, as it suddenly started stinging madly.

" Oh sweet jesus, Rob, you're bleeding again.", Tori declared, concern shining in her brown irises once again. " It's nothing, just a little nosebleed.", Robbie said, while throwing his head back and wiping his bloody hand on his clean white pillow. " No, Robbie, it already started bleeding twice, while you were unconscious, this isn't a little nosebleed anymore!", Tori yelled, her tone going up a whole octave. With that said, she slowly pried the puppeteer's hand away and started tending to his nose herself.

" There, fixed it, for now at least." , Tori muttered, after she'd pushed two tiny strips of cotton wool up into Robbie's nostrils. " Thanks, Tor. For everything.", Robbie said, in his most solemn tone. Much to his amazement, this statement caused his friend to start giggling. " What? Did I say something funny?" " No it's just… with those things up your nose, your voice sounds funny." " Oh… so the Mrs. Thinks my voice sounds funny, eh?", Robbie asked playfully, fully raising his eyebrows. " Well, if the honorary Tori Vega finds that funny, what will she say of this?" " Of wha… hey, stop that, you nut!", the Latina shouted, as she felt Robbie's fingers boisterously dancing down her sides. " Come on, Rob. You know that I… haha… hate…hihi… tickling." Robbie however wouldn't listen to any of his friend's complaints, as he joyously carried on with his ministrations. He loved the sight and sound of Tori laughing. In his opinion, it was in these moments, that she was at her most beautiful. When he saw that she was getting trouble breathing however, he immediately ceased the attack on her thin frame.

" Uh, ugh, Robbie… you nearly killed me.", the tan girl finally brought out, when she'd regained the strength to speak. " Well, you've sure gotten weak. I used to tickle you all the time when we were kids. You could hold out for much longer back then." " That's so not true!", Tori suddenly yelled, poking her friend in the stomach. " Oh, it so is!", Robbie retorted, poking her right back. " Whatever.", the brunette stated, as she crossed her arms and looked the other way. Robbie quickly realized she was only faking anger, so he started teasing her a bit. " Oh, is little Tor-wor a little mad at me?" Tori's only reply was a loud huff. Hearing this, the puppeteer decided to opt for a different approach. " Ow, ow shit, it's bleeding again! Oh my god, Tori, Tori. I don't… I don't feel so go…", he muttered, before fake-fainting.

His plan worked like a charm, as Tori was instantly gripping onto him, as she began to shake him and yell: " Robbie, oh dear god! Robbie, please wake up! I'm not mad, I never was, just please…wake the hell up!" Her surprise proved grand, when her friend suddenly opened one eye and drily declared: " Fooled ya. I knew you weren't really mad." " Well I am now! Why did you do that?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! Never try that again, Robbie Shapiro!", the Latina yelled, before hitting Robbie on the chest. " I'm sorry, Tor. Can you ever forgive me?", Robbie asked, flashing her his puppy-eyes and a cute pout.

For a few seconds the tan girl kept her upset face on, then she put on a slight smile. " Oh, of course I can. I'm forever grateful to you, since you stood up to Danny for me. Oh Rob, you were so brave." At that last statement, Tori overpowered her friend with a great, big hug, instantly causing Robbie to blush. " Uh… it was nothing, you know, just a left hook here, a right hook there.", he uttered, in a vain attempt to hide his shyness. " It was not nothing, Robbie. You stood up to someone, usually you're too polite to say or do what you think is right. No, no, you stood up to someone and you did it for me, that's a big deal!"

" Oh yeah… well.", the lanky boy stammered, before he started yawning and stretching himself. " Jesus, I'm so tired all of a sudden. It must be because I fainted. Do you mind if I turn in early, Tor? It's been a pretty hectic day." " Of course not, take all the rest you need. Heaven knows you earned it.", Tori chirped cheerfully, right before she gave her friend a firm peck on the cheek. This of course, caused Robbie to feel all tingly again and he jokingly said: " Stop doing that, will ya? You're always kissing me." " Yeah you're right, I do do that too much. Heck, I think I've kissed you more times than I've kissed... you know who.", Tori said, as she got up from the bed. " Now that I think about it… it's like we're boyfriend and girlfriend." " Yeah.", Robbie laughed. Then the room suddenly fell silent, as both teens seemed to realize the implications of said sentence.

Finally, Tori broke the awkward silence as she said: " Anyway… uhm, I've actually been wanting to ask you a question." " Ask you may, ask away.", Robbie announced, as he himself stood up. His phrase caused Tori to smile, cause it was something Robbie always said. Even when they were kids, he'd always used that sentence, when she wanted to ask him something. That particular group of words reminded Tori of a simpler, more pleasant time.

" I was wondering if I could stay here for the night. You know, with the whole Danny-fiasco, I just… I really need a friend. I can't talk about it at home, cause Trina never listens and my parents are out of town. Please, Rob, please let me stay." Robbie remained quiet for a while, as he pondered her request. It was probably a bit risky to let her stay right now. They'd slept in the same bed plenty of times when they were kids, but this… well, this was different. But then he saw just how desperate she looked, so he did the only thing that seemed right to him in that moment. " Of course Tor, of course you can stay with me."


	10. Thou shalt not sleep

" Of course Tori, of course you can stay with me." Upon hearing that, Tori felt grateful to the extent, that she practically tackled Robbie back onto the bed and gave him a short but powerful smooch right on the lips. Needless to say, that the boy in question started to feel even more bashful now. His natural skin color, was briefly replaced by a fierce shade of red and he quickly tried looking down and away from her. Tori however, clearly hadn't noticed anything strange, as she pressed her body even closer to him and gave him another kiss on the forehead. " Thank you so much. I know you'd probably rather be alone right now, with everything you just went through." There was no retort to her declaration, as a very flustered-looking Robbie just sat there, blinking his eyes, while trying to recover words from his momentarily molten brain. He was surprised he hadn't died yet, cause his body was currently heating up like crazy. " Robbie, are you alright? You're not feeling dizzy again, are you?", Tori asked, as she stroked his cheek and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

" I… uh, I'm fine, thanks. Just feeling a little tired is all.", the ventriloquist finally responded, suddenly feeling very thankful for the fact that Danny had knocked him into oblivion. He couldn't imagine what would happen, if he were to tell her the truth. " Oh, poor darling, I really feel sorry for you, you know that. Let me tell you something: how about I go pick up my pajamas and stuff at my place, and meanwhile you take a nice nap?" Robbie sighed, before saying: " Sounds like a plan." Tori briefly let her finger s graze over the expanse of his shoulder one last time, effectively driving her friend crazy, before getting up.

" I'll be right back, Rob. Take care.", the tan girl said, before twisting the doorknob and making her way outside of his room. Robbie breathed a sigh of relief, then furrowed his brows when the door suddenly opened again. " Oh… and Robbie?" " Yeah?" " You will call me, if anything goes wrong, won't you?" " But o'course, darlin'.", Robbie joked in a Southern accent, in an attempt to lighten the mood. " Good. Well, I'll see you later, won't I darlin'?", the perky brunette responded, as she gave him an over-the-top- fat wink. Robbie just nodded and laughed to please her, but once she was gone, his stomach started to ache again. He really did freaking wish that Tori was his darling.

Robbie was already fast asleep, when Tori finally returned to his house. The tan girl carefully tiptoed over to his bed, before lightly shaking her friend's sleeping body. The bespectacled boy wouldn't budge however and for a while Tori just settled for sitting by his side. He looked incredibly cute and peaceful and she almost felt bad, for trying to wake him up. He'd gone through a dangerous predicament today and he deserved all the sleep he could get. She smiled a loving smile, as she softly ran her fingers through her friend's dark curls. ' He really is adorable.', she thought, as her fingers continued their path downward, over his temple and cheeks. She halted at his nose, only now noticing that every trace of cotton wool had disappeared.

She only hoped that he wouldn't start bleeding again. She'd been worried sick every time that had happened, while he was still lying in a semi-coma. She finally brushed her thumb over his upper-lip, before playfully tickling him under the nose. This little action, caused the boy in question to groan and scrunch up his nose. " There buster, that's for tickling me when I let my guard down.", she whispered, barely able to suppress a giggle, as she gazed upon her friend's suspicious-looking features. Then, she slowly got up and headed over to the bathroom to change into her nightclothes. After that, she made her way back over to the bed. Or… that had been the plan at least.

Tori's body hit the floor with a loud thud, after she'd rather clumsily stumbled over her own duffle bag. " How… what… where?", a startled Robbie asked in a confused daze, as he shot up from his mattress. " It's okay, Robbie. I just tripped. You can go back to sleep.", the Latina mumbled, as she rose and wiped the dust off of her knees. Robbie however, being naturally protective of her, wouldn't have any of that. " Oh my god, oh my god. Are you hurt?!", he exclaimed, as he turned on the light and raced over to her side. " I just have a little bruise on my knee. Don't worry about it." " Oh but, I do worry about it. Go lie down, so I can have a look at it.", the puppeteer commanded, anxiously waving his hand about, toward the general direction of his bed. Tori huffed, as she let out a: " Fine." And flopped down onto the mattress. He really shouldn't be so concerned for her right now.

Robbie quickly followed suit, as he went to sit on his knees beside her, in an attempt to inspect the damage. It was only then, that he really noticed just what his love interest had chosen to wear, for the night. He gave her a once over, before deciding that her choice of clothing definitely wasn't going to do him any good. Her torso was covered up by a short tank top, that really didn't do a very good job at hiding her cleavage, while her lower half was tucked away in a pair of booty shorts, which barely covered her lean buttocks. He gulped soundly, as he slowly backed away from her.

" What's the matter, Dr Shapiro? Aren't you going to examine the injuries?", Tori asked, as she raised her eyebrows. Her best friend's behavior was very confusing, to say the least. Uhm…uh…uh… n…n…no, you're fine, you're fine. You know, perfectly fine, as fit as a fiddle.", Robbie rambled in a high-pitched voice, before letting out a nervous and very weird kind of giggle. Then he switched off the light, all the while moving as far away from Tori as possible. " O-kay , I guess that's settled then. You're acting weird. Do you maybe… oh I don't know, wanna talk to me about something?"

The lanky boy let out the same odd cackling noise, before casually stating: " No, why would I wanna talk to you about something?" " Robbie, are you feeling alright?", Tori asked, as she flipped the light back on and caressed his cheek again. " You know what, Tori? Let's just sleep, okay? I'm very very sleepy… sleepy, sleepy, sleepy. I need my sleep.", Robbie uttered, ill at ease, before gently pushing Tori away and crawling underneath the sheets. When he was fully laying down, he pressed the light switch again. Then he went to lie on his side, facing away from Tori. His breathing sped up, when he suddenly felt his friend snuggling up to him, certain parts of her anatomy now prominently meeting with his slender back and warm, soft hands finding a resting place on his chest. This sure was going to be a long night.


	11. Endless night part 1

Robbie sighed soundly, two hours had passed and he still couldn't get his mind to concentrate on sleeping. This had everything and more to do, with a certain absolutely stunning Latina, that was currently tightly cuddled up to him. The ventriloquist was presently lying on his back, with Tori's face nuzzled into his chest. She was sleeping like a baby. ' Well at least someone's getting some sleep tonight.', Robbie thought, as he tried to pry his friend off of him, for the hundredth time that night. He'd already tried laying down in every possible position known to man, but wherever he went, Tori just followed along. She clung to him and for a girl, she had a surprisingly strong grip.

Robbie's body was already on fire, when Tori suddenly started moving her hips against places, that really didn't need too much encouragement from girl's hips, to stand at attention. He felt the familiar stirring down below, when the tan girl kept rubbing herself against him and he was mightily embarrassed. Then there was also the movement of her hot lips against his naked chest, which quite frankly, didn't help the situation any. " Why God, why? What did I ever do to you? I went to church every Sunday, didn't I?", he whisper-cried, as he attempted to hold a fidgety Tori in place.

Then, he practically jumped, when she suddenly lifted her head up and spoke in a groggy voice: " Mmh Robbie, what's wrong? Is it morning? Do we have to get up?" " Uhm… no, no Tori, no, no. It's still dark out. You can go back to sleep, sweetie." The Latina's only reaction, was to tilt her head further. " What?", Robbie whispered. " Robbie Shapiro, am I dreaming, or did you really just call me sweetie?" The puppeteer bashfully looked down, to avoid her inquisitive gaze. If only the moonlight wouldn't shine in through the window, he would still be able to look at her. " Uhm…no?", he tried, hoping that would be the end of the story. He feared that his unsure tone had given him away, though. He'd more or less asked, rather than denied. " Yes, you did!", Tori exclaimed enthusiastically.

" Okay, okay. I called you sweetie, so what?", he groaned, clenching his eyes shut. " Well, you've never said that to me before. In fact you're the first boy ever, to call me sweetie. You are super-cute and I'm very flattered.", Tori stated, smiling like a kid on Christmas eve. Robbie, at his turn, smiled faintly at her apparent joy over the new nickname. After all, how could you not call a girl like her sweetie? Then, he remembered her compliment to him and he started blushing again. Then, he suddenly realized something else and asked: " Hey, Tori?" " Yeah?", the tan girl replied softly, seemingly still quite taken by the earlier endearment. " Uhm, didn't Danny… you know… didn't he ever call you sweetie?"

Much to his surprise, Tori reacted to his question by laughing loudly, as if he'd just suggested something completely ridiculous. " Danny? God, no! The only thing he ever said to me, was: babe. I didn't actually like that too much, now that I think about it. The word babe is… I don't know, just so… empty, I guess? It's like devoid of all emotion, while sweetie it… it mean s something, am I making sense? Robbie didn't respond, so the brunette just shook her head and added: " Sweetie… is a very positive word, Robbie. I know this may sound ridiculous, but you've actually totally made my day." " By calling you sweetie?", the puppeteer whispered, quite impressed himself. " By calling me sweetie.", Tori affirmed quietly, while her hand found Robbie's and squeezed it meaningfully.

Robbie briefly reveled in the amazing feeling that came about, from their hand-holding. He was so overwhelmed, that he couldn't keep himself from adding more mushiness to the conversation. " Well, I'll tell you something, Tor: if anyone truly deserves to be called sweetie, it's you. You are sweet, kind, smart and you have a very good heart. And of course, to top it off: you're incredibly g…", he quickly stopped himself there, as he felt his face becoming warmer than a hotplate.

" I'm incredibly what, Robbie?", Tori inquired urgently, surprised that he'd so abruptly halted his confession. He'd been acting pretty weird earlier, and now he was at it again, apparently. " Uhm…uh… you're incredibly good… with old people? Yeah that's it: you're good with old people, but not only with them, oh no! You're also good with kids, with people your own age! Heck, you're good with everyone and that's a great talent, believe you me! These days in society, you have to be good with people! It's so important!", Robbie shouted, as he got up from the bed.

" Robbie, what…", Tori tried, getting more and more puzzled by her best friend's bizarre rants." Very important, Tori, very, very important.", The ventriloquist declared, while pointing a shaky finger in her direction. " Robbie, I'm sure that's not what you m…", the Latina attempted again, but Robbie interrupted her again. " Oh, oh, I'm so thirsty all of a sudden, Tori. So so thirsty, thirsty like you wouldn't believe. I'll better head downstairs to lave that thirst, see you in a moment." And before Tori fully got the chance to comprehend his last announcement, her friend had already disappeared. " Lave?", she asked herself out loud, while raising a suspicious eyebrow.

Meanwhile, Robbie was just treating himself to a glass of deliciously cold water in the kitchen. He wasn't actually thirsty, but he certainly could use some icy liquid to cool off right now. He downed his drink in one go and hurriedly poured himself a new one, all the while trying to keep his trembling hands under control. He'd definitely ruined things now, with all that shit about being good with people. He could only pray, that he hadn't given the game away.

When he'd finally calmed down a considerable amount, he took another deep breath and attempted to prepare himself for a new confrontation, with the person that was the cause of his uneasiness. He wiped the sweat off of his face and then shook his head. He most DEFINETELY needed another drink, but he wanted something stronger this time.

Without hesitation, he strode over to his father's liquor cabinet and unlocked it( the key wasn't that hard to find.) He sighed again, this time in relief, when his hand encircled a full bottle of rum. "Why, hello there, dear pal. Are you gonna help uncle Robbie relax?", he asked, while reading the label. " Ooh, 35% alcohol, you'll most certainly do the trick, bad boy!", he exclaimed, before unscrewing the cap.

He was holding the bottle to his lips and was about to take a large swig, when he suddenly heard: " Robbie? What are you doing with that?"The next thing he knew, was the sound of breaking glass and a sharp pain in his big toe. He didn't say anything, instead only one thought came to him: ' Why God, why?'


	12. Endless night part 2

_He was holding the bottle to his lips and was about to take a large swig, when he suddenly heard: " Robbie? What are you doing with that?" The next thing he knew, was the sound of breaking glass and a sharp pain in his big toe. He didn't say anything, instead only one thought came to him: ' Why God, why?'_

" Robbie!", Tori yelled, as she rushed over to her friend in sheer panic. When she'd arrived by his side, Robbie was already holding his leg up and clutching his toe. " Oh dear god, Robbie. Are you hurt?", Tori asked, suddenly feeling very guilty, about scaring him like that. Robbie didn't respond, just looked on in sheer horror, as the blood from his toe started seeping through his slender fingers. " There's a shard of glass in my toe.", he uttered, while his eyes came very near to bugging out of their respective sockets. Then he turned his gaze to Tori. " Tori, there is a SHARD OF GLASS in MY TOE!", he yelled, nearly losing it then and there. " Oh my god, Robbie. I am so sorry. I never meant to startle you like that. I just came to see what you were up to."

" Yeah, yeah Tori. That's very good and all, but just in case you missed it: I have glass stuck in my toe!", the puppeteer exclaimed again, nearly fainting at the sight of the copious amounts of blood, which now came spurting out of his big toe. " Okay, Robbie, okay. Let's just take it easy, alright? Just uhm… just sit yourself down and I will see what I can do, okay?"

Robbie slowly nodded, before limping over, to one of the kitchen chairs. Tori quickly followed behind, crouching down on her knees in front of him, to have a proper look at the wound. She carefully took a hold of his injured body part, then slowly bent forward. Robbie visibly gulped, as his attractive friend's cleavage, was now right in his line of sight. Under the sole of his foot, to be more exact.

" Okay, Robbie. I have good news… I think. There's a big part of the glass, sticking out of your toe, that means, that we'll very possibly be able to get it out." The ventriloquist sighed in relief. " Okay, you get my blessing. Now please pull that thing out, before I'll really faint.", he pleaded. The Latina fervently nodded her head several times, before reassuring her best friend. " I will, I will. Don't worry. I am going to get some ice cubes first though."

" Ice cubes… ICE CUBES?! Tori, you are needed to perform a delicate operation here. Now is not the time to make cool drinks!", Robbie yelled, as he looked at her in disbelief. " Robbie, the ice cubes are for your toe, silly. You know, to numb the pain.", Tori clarified. " Oh…ooh.", the puppeteer said, right before turning bright red. " I'm sorry, Tori, I uh… I didn't. I'm sorry." " It's okay, I understand. You're under a lot of stress right now. You'll be back to your old self, when I remove that stuff from your foot. Now, Let's get cracking. Where do you keep the ice cubes?" " Freezer… top shelf. Please hurry Tori, it really freaking hurts!", Robbie declared, while wincing in pain.

Without another word, Tori raced over to the freezer and got the ice cubes out. She subsequently went to the bathroom, to get some ointment and band aid. Then, she rushed back over to her best friend and kneeled down by his side again. " Okay, Rob, are you ready? This is probably gonna feel a little cold." " Yeah, yeah, I'm ready. Just do it now… please." At that statement, the tan girl hurriedly pressed the cold square of ice to her friend's damaged toe and removed the large shard of glass, with almost no effort at all. " There already done.", she said, smiling encouragingly at the wounded boy. " Now, for the nursing…", she mumbled, while rubbing some ointment on the injury. While she did this, the lanky boy was overcome with a feeling of ecstasy. The feel of her fingers on his skin, was simply magical. " There.", The Latina repeated, after putting on the band aid.

" I'm no doctor, but I think you'll be fine now.", Tori stated, as she slowly rose up and patted Robbie on the knee. " I think so too, thanks Tor.", Robbie said softly, as he awarded his love interest with a grateful smile. He actually felt better now, he hadn't thought about his huge problem anymore.

" No problem. So… Robbie? Are you ready to tell me, why you were acting all funny earlier?" And with that little question, all of Robbie's anxieties came flooding right back to him.

**A/N: So, this was basically a filler-chapter. Sorry if it wasn't long enough. In my A/N this week, I would like to hand out special thanks and virtual flowers and candy to Maybewolf. Thanks soo much, your reviews are the awesomest! You really encourage me to keep writing!**

**But really: thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, follows and favorites! You guys are all great and…golden and freaking fantastic!**


	13. The times they are a-changin

For a while, Robbie just sat there, as he didn't know what to do. ' Should I tell her?' he wondered, as he stared into Tori's curious and expectant brown eyes. God those eyes, he could get so lost in them. ' Nah, she'll probably reject me if I do tell her, and then things will be all awkward between us and I don't want that.' he answered to himself.

" C…c… cleaning!" the ventriloquist suddenly shouted, startling Tori in the process .In all honesty: he hadn't spoken for such a long time, that she had begun to assume he was in a coma. " What?" she asked, on a confused tone. " Cleaning Tori, cleaning. There's a broken bottle of rum on the floor, we can't just sit here. We need to clean that shit the hell up, baby!" Robbie clarified, as he raised a fist high up into the air and got up. " Oh no, no,no,no. I'm sure, that can wait. For now, I want you to tell me why you were behaving all goofy before." Tori demanded, as she pushed him down again.

Robbie let out a loud sigh, as he averted his gaze and stared up at the ceiling. " Do you like the new colors on the ceiling? My mom redecorated two weeks ago." he asked casually, right before he began whistling a random tune. " Robbie." his friend whispered threateningly. " I quite like them, you know. They give the kitchen a nice and homy feel." he rambled on, as he pretended to be fascinated by the room's new design.

Tori shook her head, then reached out and lowered down Robbie's chin, forcing him to look at her. " Now tell me the truth, Robert Shapiro." she demanded. Realizing that he was trapped, the boy in question took a deep breath, before hesitantly forcing out words. " Tori, I'll be honest with you cause you're my best friend and all, but just so you know: this really isn't easy for me." " Just tell me what the problem is, Robbie, it's okay. I promise to do anything in my power to help you, if you're really bothered with something." Tori reassured him, as she started rubbing soothing circles down his back.

" The thing is Tor, that I… that I…" Robbie began, as a very unwanted tear suddenly sprang forth from his eye. Tori then semi-hugged him, as she cood:" Oh Robbie, come on. Please tell me, so I can help you. You can tell me anything, we're best friends, remember?" And it was at those two final words, that the bespectacled boy finally lost his last ounce of courage.

Best friends, right. That's all they'll ever be. Tori would never ever love him. She'd probably laugh, if he told her about his feelings. Then regard him in disgust, when she'd realize he wasn't joking. Just like any other girl, that he'd clumsily tried to ask out, before her. He was content with Tori treating him the way she was now, and he very much intended to keep things that way.

" You know what, Tori, I…uh, I'd really rather tell you tomorrow." he lied, knowing full well he wouldn't tell her in the morning either. He seemed to have saved his sorry ass for now though, as the girl opposite him meekly nodded and said: " Okay Rob, take as much time as you need." " You do know that I'm here for you, right?" she added, as she squeezed his hand. The ventriloquist simply nodded, as he wiped the excessive water from his face and got up.

" Can… can we go back to sleep now? I'm quite beat." he asked, still sounding kinda shaken-up. " Yeah, sure. Lead the way." the Latina responded, with another one of her smiles, that were able to put those people from toothpaste-commercials, to a horrendous shame.

Robbie returned the smile and then extended his hand, for Tori to grab. " Ma'am?" he inquired, as he put on a boyish smirk. " Don't mind if I do." Tori laughed, as she placed her hand in his and allowed her friend to pull her upstairs.

Once they'd arrived back in the puppeteer's room, they both climbed under the covers, said goodnight to one another and then made an attempt, at going back to sleep. This effort went smoothly in Tori's case, but for Robbie, it proved to be the hardest thing ever(pun intended).

Robbie was the first one to wake up in the morning, as he produced a loud yawn and slowly got up to prepare some breakfast, for Tori and himself. The girl in question, was still sound asleep, softly breathing in and out. Gazing down upon her desirable form in the bright sunlight, Robbie couldn't help but feel touched, by her beauty once again. He knew it was cliché, but to him, she really did look like a princess straight out of a fairytale. After five minutes or so, of just staring at her, he ultimately sighed, got dressed and went downstairs.

It was about an hour later, that he'd finally finished Tori's special breakfast. He smiled as he added the last touches, to the fancy meal. He just sensed, that she would love it. He rubbed his hands together and his smile never faltered, as he picked up the breakfast tray and carefully carried it upstairs. Arriving back in his bedroom, he was surprised to find his bed vacant and Tori nowhere in sight. " Tori?!" he called out. " In here!" a voice cried back, from the bathroom. " I'm just taking a quick shower, Rob. I hope that's okay!" " Yeah, of course, it's fine!" Robbie retorted, as he flopped down on his bed, still awkwardly clutching onto the breakfast tray.

As he waited for Tori, he began to chew on his lip nervously. He'd done some thinking during the night and had finally come to a new insight. He was going to tell Tori about his feelings today. He just couldn't live a lie any longer. It was getting harder and harder, to hide his feelings for her, especially now that she was single. Yes, he was going to tell her today, as soon as she got out of the shower, to be more precise.

He was pulled out of his thoughts, when he noticed something: the door to his bathroom, was now slightly ajar. ' The wind must've forced it open.' he thought, as he shifted his gaze toward the window. Sighing, he slowly got up and strode over to the door, with the intention of closing it, in order to protect his friend's modesty.

Every intention left his mind though, when he finally arrived at the door and became faced with the most alluring sight ever: the naked body of Tori Vega. He swallowed soundly, his hand sluggishly retracting itself from the doorknob, as he saw tan, wet, slender fingers thoroughly lathering an incredibly attractive bosom. The Latina's head was slightly cocked to the side and her eyes were shut, as she hummed the melody of ' Make it Shine.'

Robbie just couldn't believe how beautiful she looked, in that moment and he briefly clenched his eyes shut, as he tried to store this memory in his mind for all eternity. It had in no way been his intention to watch her, while she sensually soaped in her body every limb, but now that he was standing there, he just couldn't possibly force himself to look away. He knew that this was probably his only chance ever, to see Tori like this and he desperately… desperately needed to commit this moment to memory.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he'd loosened his grip on the breakfast tray and slowly lowered a clammy palm down to the zipper of his jeans, already feeling the growing bulge, as it started straining painfully, against the fabric of his underwear.

He would never reach his destination however, as in the next minute the badly supported breakfast tray, slipped from his hand and fell to the bedroom floor with a loud thud. Startled, Robbie quickly jumped back from the doorway, closed the door, and crouched down to pick it back up again. " Robbie… Robbie, what's going on back there?!" Tori yelled, before shutting off the water. " Uh, no.. no… nothing…nothing, no!" The ventriloquist stuttered, as he hurriedly grabbed a hold of the tray and raised himself back up to his feet. He sighed in relief, as nothing appeared to be broken. He'd seen quite enough broken glass for one weekend.

" Are you sure? I heard a bang. Are you alright?" Tori asked, her voice suddenly sounding much closer, hot breath fanning over his cheek, and a coconutty scent passing through his nostrils. He abruptly turned around, only to come face to face with the girl in question. ' Huh, how did she even get in here so fast?' he wondered briefly, before really looking at her and quickly becoming very, very ashamed of himself. She was wearing a towel now, but it was too late, as Robbie had just seen the marvelous landscape hiding underneath the cotton fabric. He felt himself growing bright red, as he remembered just what he was about to do, not five minutes ago. He would never ever be able to look her in the eye again. He felt like a pervert, just peeping on her in the shower like that. Damn him and his stupid hormones.

He was very busy cursing himself, when a soft voice suddenly pulled him out of his ponderings." Robbie? Robbie, what's wrong sweetie? You've gone all pale." " Nothing, Tor. There's nothing, I swear." Robbie said, before biting down on two of his fingers in a scouts honor-kind of way. " Do you…uh, would you like some breakfast?" he asked, as he raised his platter high up in the air, in a very clumsy manner. " Well… actually Rob. Actually, I really should be getting back home. It's already worse enough, that I've left Trina alone for the entire night. I really have to go check on her now. I mean: last time she was in the house alone, she set fire to the kitchen, by heating a piece of pizza in the microwave, for god's sake."

Robbie's face visually dropped, as he listened to his friend's little rant. He couldn't help but feel disappointed at the fact, that Tori wasn't going to be tasting his meticulously prepared breakfast. " Oh… I see." he said, as he suddenly pretended to be very interested in one of his fingernails. Then, he thought of something. " What about your hair, though?" " My hair?" the tan girl asked, utterly confounded. " Yeah, it's still wet. You should at least blow-dry it, before you leave. Wouldn't want you to catch pneumonia."

" Yeah, yes of course. You're probably right. Well…er… I'm going back in then. See you later." " Yeah, see you soon." Once Tori had disappeared back into the bathroom, Robbie couldn't keep the smile off of his lips. He'd convinced her to stay just that little bit longer, he'd reached his goal. Sure, he wasn't gonna be in the same room with her, but he knew she was there, which comforted him.

A good ten minutes later, Tori finally emerged from the adjoining room again, this time wearing clothes. " So, I'm going to go then." she announced, as she walked over to her duffle bag, to put the rest of her stuff away. " Oh, come on, stay." Robbie begged, while putting on a pout and puppy-eyes. " Robbie, I'm very sorry, but I really don't have that much time. I have to be at the hairdresser's by eleven. That's only half an hour from now." " All right, fine, go. Hurry." Robbie grunted, as he went to lie down, right in the middle of the floor.

Tori raised her brow, as Robbie acted bizarrely once again. " Robbie." " What?" the boy in question groaned, his voice muffled by linoleum tiles. " You do know I'm not leaving you forever, don't you?" " Yeah, I'd really like you to stay with me now, though." the puppeteer whined, while curling himself up into a ball. " I'll be back as soon as my hair's done, promise." Tori announced, smiling. " Yeah, okay. In the meantime, I'm just going to continue liying here, on the cold, hard, unforgiving ground." The tan girl only giggled, at Robbie's childish behavior." Okay Rob, whatever you say. Bye." " Bye." the ventriloquist growled, as he tried to get even closer to the floor. He was really bummed, that she had to leave. Every minute with her, was precious to him. He sighed in frustration, as he heard the door slam downstairs, signaling her departure.

Tori was always in his thoughts, always. He just wished he could get her out of his head for five minutes, cause this wasn't healthy. It wasn't healthy, the way he depended solely on her for everything. It wasn't healthy, the way he stared at her, when he thought she wasn't looking. It wasn't healthy, the way he'd go all jealous, when she so much as talked to a handsome guy. It wasn't healthy, the way he kept replaying their only kiss in his head. It wasn't healthy, the way he scribbled down all of their physical interactions, in a teeny tiny notebook. It wasn't healthy, the way he'd almost satisfied himself, while boldly checking out her naked body earlier.

He couldn't help but wonder though: what would it feel like to kiss her… really kiss her, with mingling tongues? What would it feel like to touch her? To run his fingers from her elegant neck, down to her aesthetically pleasing breasts, over her taut stomach and past her long tan legs? What would it feel like to trail his tongue over every last one of her pleasure points. Robbie shivered, as he started imagining the scene more vividly, hereby assisted by the memory of the sight, which had been displayed in front of him, not too long ago.

What would she sound like, as she climaxed, moaning his name over and over again, while crying out blissfully at the same time? Her lean body a quivering mess, her shiny brown hair sticking to her forehead, in thick, wet strands, while her muscles pulled him deeper inside. Robbie got more and more worked up, as his hand gradually started its journey to the downstairs-area again.

Robbie was however blissfully unaware of the fact, that Tori was already rushing back to his house, at that very moment. She'd realized only just in time, that she'd left her magazine with the hairstyle of her dreams behind, in her best friend's room.

As she finally arrived at the Shapiro-home, she quickly let herself in and rushed upstairs. When she'd arrived there though, she was confused by strange grunting noises, coming from Robbie's room. Worried that he might be hurt, she swiftly rapped her knuckles on the door. " Robbie, Robbie, is everything okay in there?" The puppeteer didn't seem to have heard her though, as the weird, almost animalistic sounds, seemed to reach a crescendo. Tori was becoming more and more concerned, as she slowly placed her ear against the mahogany door. Her eyes widened to their maximum extent, as she finally heard the muffled words, which spilled fort from Robbie's lips, over and over again. " Oh Tor, god Tori! Oh Tori, yes, yeeeessss!"

Not wasting anymore time, the tan girl brusquely threw open the door. " Oh my god, Robbie! What the hell are you doing?!" she gasped, while the bag she was previously holding, plummeted to the floor with a great big thud.

**A/N: Ooh, what's that smell? Could it be the sweet scent of angst? Yeah, major angst is to come up in the next chapter. So be sure to stay tuned, as this writer provides you with more tension, romance, hurt and of course…angst. **

**Today I have a little request to anyone who still reads my stories. I'd very much like to ask you to have a look over at my story on Fictionpress. It's called: ' The life and times of Michael Trogge.' and it's listed under humor. I'm still updating it. The reason I implore this, is simple… I think of turning the story into a book, but so far it hasn't had that many reviews or readers. I'd therefore very much like to request this to some of you. So please, please, please give it a go. You don't have to read much, only a little bit and then give me some constructive criticism.**

**I'm sorry bout this mega-long AN, but writing is my life and I'd really like to be an author for a living one day. Thanks for reading this chapter and goodbye.**


	14. Don't dream, it's over

Upon hearing his name, Robbie swiftly looked up, while doing his best to cover up his nether regions with his blanket. There was really no need to upset her even further. " Tori…" he began, but then quickly stopped talking, as soon as he saw the expression of utter disbelief on his friend's face. If he wasn't already massively ashamed before, he certainly was now, as he tried his best to avoid the tan girl's gaze. " Robbie… what… how could…" she uttered softly, then she slowly shook her head, before turning around and running away.

" Tori, Tori wait! Don't go, please!" the ventriloquist yelled, as he raced after her. " Leave me alone!" Tori retorted, as she hurriedly pushed the front door open and ran out into the pouring rain. " Tori, Tori, please! Tori, I'm so sorry!" Robbie tried again, as he chased her still. " Get away from me!" the confused Latina shouted, as she sped up the timing in her feet and legs, successfully outrunning her former best friend.

She'd almost succeeded in outwitting him, when she suddenly slipped and fell face first on the sidewalk. Not a minute after the accident, the person she least wanted to see, had already knelt down by her side. " Oh my god, Tor. Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked, as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

" I was fine until you touched me! I thought I told you to stay away!" the tan girl yelled, as she struggled free from his grip and defiantly rose back up. This action, was subsequently followed, by a piercing glare in Robbie's direction.

" Tori, I'm so sorry, so so sorry. I never ever meant for you to see that. Hell, I never ever meant to do that." Robbie said sincerely, as he gradually moved a bit closer to the girl he longed to be with. " Then… why did you… do… it?" Tori asked, her tone a mix of disgust and deep sadness. The lanky boy sighed in frustration, then agitatedly yelled: " Because I'm in love with you, Tori, god! Don't you fucking see it?! I'm not exactly subtle about it, in case you hadn't noticed!"

Tori started crying, as she put a hand over her mouth and shook her head again. In any other situation, Robbie would have pulled her tightly against him, but not in this instant. He was too busy reciting all of his bottled-up emotions, from the past four years gone by. " No, you don't have to shake your head like that, Tori! It's true, goddamn it! I am in love with you! I have been for the longest time!"

The Latina was quiet for a long time, then slowly uttered: " When?" " When what?! When did I start developing feelings for you?!" the bespectacled boy hollered, no longer capable of keeping his vocal chords at bay.

When Tori slowly nodded, he continued: " When we were twelve , Tor! That's when I knew!" " When you kissed me, that's when I knew for sure." the ventriloquist declared, softening his tone, as he cautiously advanced closer toward her, grabbing a gentle, yet firm hold of her face. " Not a day has gone by, where I wasn't thinking about that kiss." He whispered, with tears in his eyes, right before melding his lips to Tori's, hereby forcing an extremely passionate kiss on her.

After a good minute of showing the girl of his dreams, just how strongly he'd been feeling for her all this time, he reluctantly parted from her and progressively opened up his eyes again.

" There, mission accomplished. Since this was probably the only opportunity ever for me, to really kiss you, I thought I'd just give it a go. You can leave now. I'm sure that's what your heart desires." For a while, they just remained standing there, opposite each other, as if time stood still for them.

Then, all of a sudden, Tori rasped her throat and spoke again: " You're right. I… I really… I've got to go." Robbie only nodded, then looked on with a lone tear streaming down his cheek, as his former best friend, turned around and hastily strode away from him.

**A/N: Short, I know, but hopefully you all enjoyed it.**


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